Wait pays off for Clay: Blue Devils baseball team will play for first state title

FORT MYERS | Rob Thompson has been around long enough to have seen almost everything.

But in the last of his 26 seasons as coach at Clay, his final game will offer a first glimpse of a long-awaited destination: a state championship appearance.

Led by ace Andy Toelken, who continued his recent stretch of dominance by firing a one-hit shutout, the Blue Devils punched their ticket to the program’s first state title game with a 3-0 victory over Rockledge in Wednesday’s Class 5A state semifinals at JetBlue Park.

“We’ve worked all our lives pretty much to get to this point,” Luke Suchon said. “It’s special.”

Thompson has never seen a state championship game from inside his own dugout with the Blue Devils (23-7). Watching a performance as superb as the one turned in by Toelken in the semifinals was almost as rare.

The senior right-hander allowed one hit and a pair of walks to frustrate a Rockledge lineup that could not find a way to string base runners together. The Raiders (25-6) moved just two runners into scoring position during the game and never had multiple runners on base during an inning.

“I just wanted to pound the strike zone and let our defense work because I know they’ll make the plays,” Toelken said.

Toelken struck out just one batter during the game but was in full control throughout. Thompson praised his ace for his willingness to attack batters and trust the defense behind him. That formula has worked throughout the season.

“Everybody, when they talk about pitchers, they want to talk about strikeouts, what a guy’s got for strikeouts,” Thompson said. “We’ve got such a good defense that we really don’t care. He’s capable of strikeouts, but he knows what he’s got behind him. He’s not selfish. He goes out there and does what we ask him to do, and as you can see, it works pretty well for us.

“He’s as good a pitcher as you’ll come across.”

After the game, several Rockledge players were quick to agree with Thompson’s assessment of Toelken. The Raiders didn’t make many mistakes during the game but recognized they were outmatched and outclassed.

“If a team beats you, you tip your cap, and that’s what happened today,” Rockledge coach Greg Clayborne said. “I’m proud of our guys because they competed very well, but they had a guy on the mound that was going to get it done today.”

Clay scored a pair of runs during the first inning to grab an early lead. After Jacob Turned opened the frame with a walk, he stole second and came around to score on a single to left field off the bat of Suchon. Hunter Alexander doubled the Blue Devils’ lead with a single to right that allowed Suchon to score when the ball skipped past Rockledge’s catcher and to the backstop.

The Blue Devils added an insurance run in the sixth inning when Tyler Morris ripped a one-out double to left field, and pinch-runner Josh Lambert came around to score on a wild pitch with two outs.

It wasn’t much, but it was more than enough for Toelken. He retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced and flashed a huge smile after the game while talking about the journey to this point and the last challenge remaining.

“This is awesome,” he said. “For us seniors, [today] is our last game no matter what, and for coach Thompson, his last game as well with us and this group of guys. There is just something special about us. We all bonded together. We’re a family; we’re not a team.”